Services to Schools

Universal:

Speech and language therapists are key partners for schools/local authorities and settings where Small Talk SLTs are likely to carry out the following:

Screening of children/young people for early identification of language and communication concerns. Small Talk SLTs can also and train others to carry out screening.

Providing advice and training to parents, settings and schools/local authorities

Delivering accredited national programmes of training and tailored local programmes.

Supporting all children and young people to access the curriculum e.g. through use of structured vocabulary teaching, visual timetables, training teachers and assistants etc.

Develop input to support educational targets and academic achievement for parents, schools and early years’ staff to carry out in the context of the child’s learning or home environment.

Targeted:

The children and young people who need a targeted level of provision are a group who may have specific SLCN . This group is broad and makes up the majority of children who benefit from speech and language therapy.

It includes children with delayed language and communication skills who can be expected to respond to intervention. It will also include early identification of children who may go on to have more persistent needs and potentially require specialist services. This group is likely to be a mobile group as children may go back to the universal level or move to the specialist level.

Small Talk Speech and language therapists spend a significant amount of time working with children and young people at the targeted level. The SLT role can include:

More specific training than at the universal level

Working with individual children and groups of children in conjunction with parents, schools and early years’ staff, who can embed the approach into the child’s everyday environment

Development of activity programmes for parents, schools and early years’ staff to carry out in the context of the child’s learning or home environment

Helping to identify and overcome barriers to learning to enable staff to differentiate the curriculum

Specific coaching of learning support assistants

working and liaising with other disciplines e.g. occupational therapists, Physios, paediatrician

We can carry out individual or small group work which also acts as demonstration training for staff, as we have done very successfully in many schools and nurseries to date. We carry out baseline assessments with staff and evaluate progress.

Specialist:

Small Talk Speech and language therapists spend a significant amount of time working with children and young people at a specialist level.

The SLT role can include:

staff training

supporting teaching and support staff

one to one therapy

group work

Small Talk can provide:

Regular sessions e.g. a day a week to work with children/young people who need speech and language therapy. This would be according to a service level agreement. Sessions are only cancelled for illness and not training or other commitments. An identified therapist would be allocated.

Individual Therapy either to support NHS programmes for specific pupils or those who are not accessing NHS services

What are the benefits of having more speech therapy?:

It raises achievement

Shows demonstrable impact on standards

Maintains or improves a school’s Ofsted rating

Supports the focus on teaching and learning

Helps with Development Plans

Addresses and streamlines support needs

Provides inclusivity in mainstream settings

About us

Small Talk Speech and Language Therapy was set up by Libby Hill, Speech & Language Therapist, to bridge the ever-widening gap between the increasing number of children with communication problems and the shortfall within the NHS. We take speech & language therapy referrals from all over Staffordshire and some parts of Derbyshire...